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Poster: elbow1126 Date: Jan 17, 2011 1:14pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: TDIH - Take a sip of this primordial soup

http://www.archive.org/details/gd1968-01-17.sbd.cotsman.11795.shnf

Disc 1 (61:14)
set 1:
1. Lovelight (12:02)
2. stage banter (3:19)
3. //Dark Star--> (4:48)
4. China Cat Sunflower*--> (3:20)
5. The Eleven%*--> (9:46)
6. Feedback (0:59)
7. //New Potato Caboose--> (8:35)
8. Born Cross Eyed*--> (2:30)
10. Spanish Jam* (15:50)

Disc 2 (34:29)
set 2:
1. Beat It On Down The Line--> (2:53)
2. Morning Dew (7:40)
3. Cryptical Envelopment--> (1:47)
4. The Other One--> (3:15)
5. Cryptical Envelopment--> (5:04)
6. Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl (13:49)

First versions of China Cat Sunflower, The Eleven, Born Cross Eyed and Spanish Jam as well as the earliest live version of Dark Star that we have, all in the first set! China Cat is in a lower key and the phrasing (not sure if this is correct term) is a little different. Listen to Jerry sing about the Lee-onardo words. The Eleven is a pretty nice first effort although this would become more explosive through the rest of the year and into the next. The Dark Star is very up tempo and pleasant but no where near where it would be by the summer/fall of '68. A very organ heavy Born Cross Eyed explodes out of New Potato Caboose ( a song i have been enjoying a lot more these days) and as quick as it comes its gone transitioning into eery sounding feedback that will morph into a monster Spanish Jam. The SJ starts out a little quicker and jazzier than the ones that will follow on the Quick and the Dead tour that will start after this show. At least that is how it sounds to my ears. Like those other Jams, this one degenerates into feedback for the last minute although not to the same extent, perhaps because it is the end of the first set.

While the second set is energetic, the sound levels are not good with vocals that can be barely heard at times. Pig's organ and Jerry's leads dominate the sound in this set. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it would have been nice to hear what else was going on. Still not a bad way to kick off a defining year for the band.

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Poster: Cliff Hucker Date: Jan 17, 2011 4:27pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: TDIH - Take a sip of this primordial soup

Excellent write up, Larry. Thanks for sharing your POV on this very cool music!

It's almost hard to believe this is the first ever Spanish Jam, it's an astonishingly polished debut performance. They must have been rehersing it diligently. Of course it's possible that the song was performed in Bakersfield on 1/14/68 (if there truly was such a performance there on that date?)

The truth is that I've tried really hard to love this show. But for some reason, in spite of my appreciation for all of the January/February '68 shows, I can't get that excited about this one. With the exception of the Spanish Jam of course! I think it's the sound quality. I find this remaster just a little less lively compared to those of the shows from the Quick and Dead tour. Maybe it's just me?

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Poster: elbow1126 Date: Jan 17, 2011 6:09pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: TDIH - Take a sip of this primordial soup

The sound issue was a real distraction in the second set so i think this could only be a 4/5 star show. If we got an upgrade similar to what Charlie Miller did for the other Jan/Feb shows about 2 years ago then i think the first set of this show would be comparable to the Quick and the Dead tour. The other thing to think about is that we have very limited access to most of those shows, in some cases just a single song right? If all you had from this show was the first set or for that matter just the Spanish Jam you would probably rate i much higher.

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Poster: vapors Date: Jan 17, 2011 6:53pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: TDIH - Take a sip of this primordial soup

I sure like your thinking in these here matters.
Been working my way through the recordings and find myself periodically starting the year again. I struggle to come up something insightful or new to add to the discussion, so here’s just a thanks for bringing it up. Today is my sister’s birthday, so early this morning I emailed her a link to this show, something I would never have thought to do before, and babbled on about how it was the first live recording we have of Dark Star and such. I don’t know if she gave it a listen, but I am pretty sure she had a smile on her face.

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Poster: pdm59 Date: Jan 17, 2011 4:14pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: TDIH - Take a sip of this primordial soup

Does anyone have any idea what the background sound is? Slightly reminiscent of one weak vuvuzela. At 36 seconds into stage banter it changes volume or pitch. At 2:20 it changes again and a bit of feedback is heard also. It does not annoy me just got my curiosity.
Also I hope my question does not cause others to hear it if they had not before.

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Poster: Reade Date: Jan 17, 2011 2:26pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: TDIH - Out of the ooze crawls...

a fine Spanish Jam just dripping...